The Creative Age

As an Artist, entrepreneur, brand designer, marketing strategy consultant, environmentalist, philanthropist and former art teacher, I am simply here to share inspiration and help the movement toward us all embracing creativity. Life is like a canvas, we just need to paint it to the masterpiece we desire.

Friday, December 10, 2010

A friend of mine, Penny, who is also a former FWC manatee biologist, told me a compelling story of one particular manatee injury experience. This story was a wonderful depiction of just what humans will go through to save a life of an animal that is dear to their hearts and an amazing story of one manatee’s ability to heal. “Slash” was a manatee that had been severely wounded on his head and upper trunk region by a boat propeller. The wounds extended down to bone and his survivability was questionable… in the beginning. With the help of the Dolphin Research Center (DRC) located in Marathon, FL (licensed to respond to and rescue injured manatees in that area), “Slash” was documented numerous times with wounds that were healing. During these observations, he was otherwise displaying normal activities of a Florida Manatee.

Each month, each year, Penny and DRC would “search for Slash” to determine his health status. Every time he was spotted they were amazed at his healing capabilities. The last time that “Slash” was documented was a chance encounter. Penny was in Key Largo searching for another injured manatee and happened upon “Slash.” She said, “The look that he gave when he turned his body towards me and I got the first glimpse of his face was one of pure joy and respect along with instant recognition. That this manatee could completely heal from wounds of this severity was amazing. He became our poster manatee of what not only manatees must go through but also of their amazing ability to cope.” When Penny showed me the photograph of this encounter, there was no question, I had to paint “Slash” and get this story out there.

REMEMBER! If you see an injured or dead manatee (or any injured wild animal), please call FWC at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922)

Dolphin Research Center will receive 20% of the proceeds from “Searching for Slash” print sales to help with their manatee rescue programs. Prints are available at my online store. Not surprisingly, the original acrylic of this piece now resides permanently with my dear friend Penny!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

July 3, 2010 - I woke up from a nap with the vision of the perfect view of a hatching of sea turtles. Dreams really are our windows to our future, at times serving as a foreshadow of what may come, or what we simply need to be prepared for. It is up to us to choose our best perception and path.

So, before I get off on the dreams tangent...here we go with the lesson from one of the most beautifully intense experiences of my life....

I began to reluctantly get ready for a party to view fireworks north from an oceanfront condo, after my husband, Tim’s gentle nudging. He reminded me of our need to get out once in a while and make new friends. I switched my perception toward the positive, it was at an ocean-front condo after all, and we really did need a night out as a couple. Our son was soon to turn 18 this month, and it was affecting us both in strange ways.

7:00pm – As we arrive, we mesh right into the special gathering of friends at the condo. We were just north of Stuart Beach and the weather was beautiful, of course, slight overcast here and there. I just love living on the Treasure Coast of South Florida, truly the best of many worlds with its uniquely preserved natural environments to the cultural residents who are grateful to claim it as their home. As I took a romantic walk on the beach with Tim, I felt something was going to happen…but couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

9:30pm - We headed out with a group from the party to see if the fireworks up north were visible. Yet, suddenly, I looked to my right, and two lines of people were gathered just under the beachwalk…I knew immediately what was going on. I threw off my sandals and couldn’t get down the stairs to the beach fast enough.

An estimated 30-50 baby sea turtles were making their way to the ocean from an unmarked nest, and even more amazing, they were unmistakably rare leatherback sea turtles! Why the heck do we need fireworks , that only waste our resources, when nature provides a spectacle such as this? From dream to reality, the painting in my mind literally came to life. The rush and the anticipation of cheering on each little hatchling in their struggle to get the ocean was incredible. I became flustered as the folks, not educated in how to deal with this situation, were taking flash photos like crazy – startling the poor little babes as they rely on the light from the moon to guide them to the sea in their first moments of life. Tim and I gently began to explain to these folks why they had to stop, and pointed to some of the little guys who were dazed and confused, some heading the wrong way, some frozen. Eventually most snapped back into their instincts and continued their long journey to the water.

Watching those little flippers push to get out of the nest, and struggle over each massive footprint mound was exhilarating. Some were stunned by the brief camera flashes would just sit there until their sonar kicked back in and directed toward the surf, some flipped over on their backs while striving to clear what I am sure seemed like sand mountains to them. I couldn’t help but see the connection of childhood to adulthood as I thought of my first-born son turning 18 years old this month. I thought about how we all struggle through the difficulties of childhood, yet persist in the quest to get to the ocean (adulthood). Watching these guys struggle through the massive footprints left in the sand, only to hit the rough surf and topple over 2-3 times until they actually could cut through into the ocean , made me think hard about the difficult move into adulthood…the journey as a whole, and how building initial survival skills are vital. After the right of passage through childhood, the determination to break out into the ocean – to be “independent” –is strong, to receive the privilege, the “independence.” However, only then to face the barracuda’s, the sharks, and rough unforgiving ocean for the rest of their lives. (Did you know only about 1 in 999 makes it to adulthood? Talk about survival of the fittest).

As the hatchlings reached the surf, my heartbeat rose as their little heads would raise in anticipation of getting that first taste of salty water. We found ourselves cheering them on, praying they could cut through that initial thrust of that first cool ocean wave. The frustration of watching some topple backwards, flip over multiple times as the surf became the largest wall to independence felt exactly like having to stay back and watch my son topple over as he learned the difficulties of life. The hatchlings have to get through the journey on their own if they are going to be that 1 in a 1,000 who makes it to adulthood. As human parents, the only way we can prepare our young is to guide them, just as the moonlight guides and the ocean calls to these hatchlings, so our young must have the life skills to be able to thrust themselves into that massive ocean of life, with the strength and skills from that journey across the beach, in the quest to become that 1 in 1,000 turtle, that 1 in 1,000 that shines in the world.

Thanks for sharing this incredible moment and yet another precious life lesson from nature!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Yet another deeply emotional, visual journey into painting the soul of a sea turtle. "Go Gilda!" is finally done. I can't even describe the obstacles that were encountered to feel this turtle's presence enough to portray her... yet with perseverence in this mission, attendance at the compelling release event on Juno Beach this month, the incredible photos from Hospital Coordinator, Deb Mauser, and the help of all Gilda's caretakers, friendly volunteers and staff at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, ...this artwork now exists.

My goal was to demonstrate the triumph of Gilda rushing back home and the triumph of LMC in helping her do so. Of course, she was not the most glamorous of female loggerhead sea turtles, but if any lady had been through what she had, and lived the years she has in the rough ocean, it's competely understandable (so, I glamoured her up a bit in this piece, just like we do with cover models). I placed the finishing touches on this piece yesterday, with most of the painting being created during the grand opening of my new art studio on the Manatee Pocket. (It was wonderful to see so many recognize her and were aware of her release into the ocean - she helped me raise enough awareness and raise $130 for LMC this week from Neal, Shiloh and Turtwig prints and items so far. If portraying actual souls of our sea creatures helps to wake us up and begin to move forward in a positive way, then that is my artistic mission. They all have personalities of their own, and it seems so many forget that or do not take time to notice, which is why I create their faces larger than life, because they are part of something larger - the circle of life.)

Gilda was handed lemons of the most rotten kind, and endured a long painful journey of healing. She re-learned to swim with her one fixed up front flipper through extensive physical therapy.

Nature always finds a way...I completely identified with Gilda and how she was still able to re-learn to swim. As an artist determined to paint, if I lost the use of my left hand, I would learn to paint with my right. And now, we, as the Oil Spill destroyed vital habitat and livelihoods, we, must re-learn a new way of thinking and behaving.

Her recovery literally took a village...everyone is rooting for Gilda to hopefully find a mate to help carry on the endangered Loggerhead Sea Turtle legacy. She is a 1 in a 1,000 turtle - as only 0.1% of hatchling survive to adulthood - hence we all rooting for her. GO Gilda.

I was determined create this painting to represent the large effort it took to get Gilda back into the ocean to do her part to preserve her species, yet also to demonstrate how we can all make lemonade when handed lemons. It takes spirit, it takes perseverance. The piece shows how I see her happy, feeling the rush of cruising through the currents once again - the place she had known for years.

We face a long, painful journey this year and beyond. We have been handed some really rotten lemons,the Gulf Oil Spill. We are losing millions of creatures as we speak, they are gone. I do not want their deaths to be in vain. It is up to us to find a way to make lemonade, here. This is why I started OceansForLife.org (The Facebook Page is up now with full site to open later in June). Let's stop wallowing in these rotten lemons, stop being counterproductive by just pointing fingers and fueling the anger with negativity... let's just acknowledge and mourn what has happened and is going to continue to happen, and get on with the long journey of healing and recovery with strong mental attitudes. (Our sea creatures and the coastal economies need us to now more than ever). We must move forward positively. We can do this by all of taking simple steps in our daily lives, and changing our mindsets just a little.

We can begin to make lemonade now, by simply ackowledging the phenomenally spiritual creatures like Gilda that we are soley responsible for destroying. (Yes, we all use the cars and power that demand the production of oil, that fueled the greed of oil companies, etc...the vicious cycle that can only change in the future if we change now) Sea turtles really are the ambassadors of our oceans (as my friends at LMC state it). They have been on earth before we were even a thought, they each have souls that are deeper than the ocean itself - just try being near one and you will feel it after looking into their eyes like I did. Loggerhead Marinelife Center is where you can have this encounter with a sea turtle - one you will never forget.

So, as an artist still on a very determined mission to help us begin to follow Gilda's struggle, and make lemonade from lemons, I share with you "Go Gilda!" Enjoy!Creatively Mother Earth's, P. Hoke

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

"Tender Turtwig" is finally complete! My journey into acrylic painting was yet another exciting ride, especially because it was for all the right reasons. If you hadn't caught my story about why I switched from oil painting to acrylics, please click here to read: "The Spill should Spell CHANGE."

The wise and deep eyes of Turtwig and all the beautiful sea turtles I encountered at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, FL told me thousand of stories, and called to me to present to everyone possible the connection these incredible creatures have to our daily lives. We forget, we take for granted, and we continue to destroy the very resources that give us LIFE! We do not have life without our oceans, period. My friends at LMC consider sea turtles the "Ambassadors of the Ocean," and I cannot think of a better way to express what sea turtles represent. They are timeless. They, like frogs, date back to prehistoric times, they have seen so much more than we can image, they as adults have earned every wrinkle, and they are vital to our oceanic ecosystems - which in turn give us what we need to live here on earth. Sea turtle adults are literally 1 in 1,000 - meaning the other 999 baby turtles are a food source that feeds the oceans, which in turn feed us. This also means that each 1 in 1,000 that makes it into adulthood is even more vital to carry on the huge role these gorgeous animals have in the circle of life. When I have the privilege of being near a sea turtle (or any creature for that matter), and experience their unique personality, their "essence," each one tells me their own story with their eyes. I believe we all tend to miss this in our busy routines - so I am striving to portray through my art what each one is saying to us. Hoping people will listen, begin to care, and simply take small steps to begin sensible changes in daily their routines. (Like stop using plastic bags, use less energy, drive a little less, use eco-friendly materials, etc.). This mission has begun in a large way already, thanks to Sylvia Earle,founder of Mission-Blue.org, author of The World is Blue : How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One.

So, when I made the decision to begin painting with acrylics, my heart poured into the cause, and as the Gulf Oil Spill details, and lack of transparency by many, continued to unfold, so did my anger, my resentment, my determination to do something. It seems many of us have pent up frustration now - and if I can so do something to help some good come out of such a catastrophe...then I must dive in.

The actual shift from oil to acrylic is not as easy as it would seem, yet once again, became a wild ride into making mistakes and a journey into the imagination that keeps me hooked on painting. As I went through the normal frustrations that an oil painter goes through when learning to work with fast-drying acrylics ("you have to get it right the first time..." is what I had to keep saying to myself as I kept having to re-work and blend places, that would have easily been fixed with the luxury of slow-dry oils), and the challenge of achieving the depth and contrast of colors that I am known for in my oil (which I persisted in by pushing my color mixing skills as far as I could take them), Turtwig emerged slowly, with each layer became more and more fascinating. Back into the zone, that "doing what you love zone," or, what Sir Ken Robinson calls "The Element." As those tender, chilled-out eyes of Turtwig began to emerge, I knew I made it. I made to the finish line of a small step to do my part for our oceans - for these beautiful creatures. If I can just communicate all of them - from the turtles, the dolphins, the seabirds and more who will soon be showing up onshore covered in oil or sick. If I can only spark interest through the intrigue and mystery of the arts, the awareness of the casualties that are at the bottom of the Gulf that we don't even see - the thousands of fish and coral that have already been destroyed, and now soon perhaps our last live coral reef in the Keys.

My heart is breaking - and I am not sure who our there in our country really cares. I am sure it is hard for those up in Michigan, Vermont, Ohio or Kansas to even comprehend what is happening down here - and how it really is going to afffect us all. So, all I can do is continue on my mission, continue expressing my love for the Ambassadors of our Oceans, the Sea Turtles, and more - through OceansForLife.org. This way I can help all the organizations who are working tirelessly to help our oceans heal, and I can somehow begin the campaign that we can all take small steps in our daily lives to help.

So, "Tender Turtwig" is part of my artistic journey to create art with passionate purpose... like "Knowing Neal" (to the left, myself with my art collector, Kim, donating the original to LMC), and all the other turtle patients at Loggerhead Marinelife Center and soon other organizations who wish to have me portray their causes. (They are encourage to contact me at http://www.oceansforlife.org/) The next phase is to begin the conversation at http://www.oceansforlife.org/ when it is live JUNE 2010 (you can sign up now privately to receive word when it's ready), then portray as many creatures from our oceans that I possible can to drive the message home - and provide a creative way to just begin the message that it's time we all care.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

My days on the southern west coast of Florida were interesting to say the least. Beyond each and every BP station being a ghost town, there was a tense aura among some the members of organizations in preparation for the seemingly now inevitable flood of injured animals that will arrive at their facilities. For the most part, many of them made me feel very welcome - and understood the bigger picture of what I was there to do: experience the patients and beauty of the creatures they already care for to strengthen their message and create a long term awareness and fund-raising campaign to help them all ride out this horrific tidal wave. Supplies were flooding in. All of them need multiple items, (from mild detergents to help with oiled animals to grocery gift cards to help them get what they need fast), yet what I found is they just need is just cash so they know they can sustain their facilities and have the nourishment and medical needs met for the long-haul. So, my mission to help was strengthened and you will see more on this during the week.

For now, being a huge fan of Carl Safins, I highly recommend his wonderfully written exerpt on his trip over there: "Blessed assurance is suspended indefinitely." He really says it all. Being primarily a visual artist/painter, I must simply begin expression visually in paints (yes, now acrylics and watercolors), and provide us all a means of expression for the multitude of emotions that are developing in us all during this difficult time...and leave the superior writing to Carl.

So how IS my latest shift to acrylic paint going? FANTASTIC!! Turtwig is emerging well on the canvas, and should be done today or tomorrow- love the new media! Take care all, and hope you will keep an eye on all events here, and on the small steps from my blog: "the Spill should spell change"...haven't heard any steps yet!!!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Loggerhead Marinelife Center is on the East Coast of Florida - and is already preparing in case the effects of the oil spill come around the tip of Florida as projected. I will find out more from the West Coast today while there, however, LMC is very near to my home, and is the home of my first turtle portraits. PLEASE HELP them in any way you possibly can, if not in Florida, monetary donations would be great. This helps them overall in their mission. Also, if you would like to spread the word to involve others, please pass this information on, ask others to join OceansForLife on Facebook as I collect all information accessible about the needs down here in Florida.

BTW - :"Turtwig" is still recovering at LMC, and the painting of Turtwig the new acrylic medium is going fabulously! I love my switch! Below is a photo of Turtwig.

THIS IN FROM LOGGERHEAD MARINELIFE CENTER:

Dear Friends,

The Loggerhead Marinelife Center is requesting the assistance of friends & supporters in this time of need. LMC continues to recover from depleted supply levels and on-going care costs associated with our cold-stun sea turtle patients, we are facing another potential crisis with the recent oil spill. The best way for the public to help is in the form of monetary donations to be used to purchase needed medications and supplies. We are also seeking donations of Gift Cards and needed supplies (listed below).

General Supplies. If you are in S. Florida, consider delivering some of these easily accessible donations - you will LOVE their facility and the beautiful patients there now, also a beautfiul drive! South on US past Jupiter - Juno Beach. Once you're in Juno Beach you will the Center (yellow building) on the left.

Gift Cards –Grocery and Hardware Stores

Kitchen Trash Bags

Simple Green Cleaner

KY Jelly

Laundry Detergent (unscented)

Windex Glass Cleaner

Triple Antibiotic Oitment

Baby Pools

ANYTHING YOU CAN DO IS AN IMMENSE HELP! Mostly, please try to spread the word about this page. I will try to load shirts with Neal on them soon so we can all wear his adorable face proudly and remind everyone who lives in our OCEANS, and keeps them healthy!!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Well, many of you probably think I've lost it. NOW what is she doing...opening a new Facebook Page and beginning a website: OceansForChange.org? Well, I reserve my right to be female, and an environmental artist: I can change my mind AND adapt to the world around me as it needs me to. Go with the flow - and, in this case, go with the flow of the devastation of oil in our precious Gulf - which essentially in my mind spells the need for change by us all.

My change? I woke up staring at "Turtwig," a Green Sea Turtle patient at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, FL, my next celebrity to be on canvas. As the morning light hit the sketch on my patio, I glanced at the oil paints and it hit me right in the gut...that does not make sense anymore. I realize that obviously crude oil is not the same as the linseed oils in the paints...it's the principle, and pyschological effect from the thought of visualizing all the creatures that will soon be covered in oil. This thought, coupled with the solvents that come with using oil paints have simply led me to make this as a moral decision that was long overdue. If I am going to strive to help, I too, must change - however I can. So, today - out with the oil paints and the harmful chemicals that come with them, and in with acrylics...with just water. It's a start. I haven't painted in acrylics for a while...but the investment now in supplies and time is priceless to me, and it's just simply a moral responsibility in my mind now. (I can't believe I didn't switch sooner...I use watercolors a lot, well better now than never.)

Carl Safina posted an incredible perspective today on the catastrophic oil spill, "Spill Baby Spill"...it really baked my noodle, that's for sure. Thank you, Carl, for being a voice of reason. You are not shoving radical concepts down people's throats, and you are not sitting idly by as the toxic oil threatens to shove itself down the throats of precious wildlife that are the most intricate part of the ecosystem that keeps our oceans thriving.

What this spill should do for our country is spell C-H-A-N-G-E...
but, not one that mandates what people do (can't step on freedom, just make bad things uncool, like we have with smoking), and definitely not change that will cause major economic damage, nor change that provides a constant hand-out to those who do not wish to earn what they have - yet what a about a change of mindset, just a change in our attitudes that one step is at least a start? How can we begin to at least TRY to be more responsible and preserve earth for our families and our grandchildrens' future? Open our minds to go with the flow...adapt like nature has to adapt? (Note: Earth does not belong to US, we get the priviledge being here to enjoy it, not destroy it.) This is what OceansForLife.org is going to be all about...simply a place to begin the conversation for change - and the necessary message that Sylvia Earle has been striving to drive home for years, that our Oceans are the foundation of life here on earth. You can learn more about Sylvia and this vital message that we need to drive home either through her talk on TED posted at Mission-Blue.org, or by grabbing her book "The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One." The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One.

What can each of us do that is a REALISTIC step? Even if it's just ONE behavior, at least it 's SOMETHING, it's a start!

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step." -lao Tzu

So, to share briefly before I head over to the West Coast of Florida tomorrow to see what I can do as an artist to help organizations prepare, I spelled CHANGE from the spill immediately through the shift to acrylic paints. Even though my shift is a grain of sand in comparison to the horrible damage from this spill, it is still an obligation and a step I can take to honor the losses that are pending and move toward change. Imagine if each person takes one small step. Many people feel helpless right now in how they can help, and the best way to help the environmental organizations right now is to stand by them with moral support, change lifestyle habits within reason, and of course send them money (we know that BP is not just going to wire them funds tomorrow, and they need resources now to prepare).

See here the canvas with "Turtwig" yearning to be painted, with the "Oil" paints next to it. What a mess, I thought! I woke up in the middle of the night last night realizing I needed to make a shift...what an oxymoron it would be if I continued to paint with oil paints (very toxic, and just that fact that they are oils during this spill, and soon to affect sea turtles)! No more. I have been planning my earth-friendly art shift for quite some time - even though I absolutely love the effects of oils, I know similar effects can be created with acrylics, and watercolors are also an earth-friendly option. The main point is, I MUST do what I can to push the message. So, as I stare at my fighter Turtwig (who is currently healing from a likely boat injury to his spine) waiting to emerge on the canvas...I make my official announcement to shift to acrylics and watercolors for now in light of the oil spill. Off to shop for my new paints...Turtwig, I'll be right back! (my next shift will be to ride my bike to the art store...yet it would take me all day here in Hobe Sound!).

Thanks for reading this, and please, SHARE this story with a friend, and then, share just one CHANGE YOU COULD MAKE to your daily life to begin to bring something positive out of this catastrophe (so something good may come from the horrible suffering of our creatures and Southern economies), on Oceans for Life FACEBOOK page, or, shoot me a note and I'll collect responses and post. We're all in this together, because we all created this mess together. Let's just all take responsibility for this mess however we can.

Wish me luck on my shift to acrylic painting! Will try to video some of the progress. Turtwig will be immortal on canvas soon, just like Neal!

Creatively yours, Pam

(Please visit my site , consider purchasing my turtle portraits or my other artwork, prints, canvas shopping bags and more to help me on my mission (20% of proceeds in my Passionate Purpose Section go to non-profit organizations that relate to the art. I will be adding more this week after my trip to the West Coast of Florida once I assess the needs of the organizations there). You can also help me by just telling a friend about my story and inviting them to join me on Facebook! Thank you!

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About Me

I am an artist, serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, and environmentalist. I have been running my own business full time for 9 years now, and have been blessed with designing and assisting the development and launch of over 200 small business brands. My mission is simple - to help others evolve into the new creative society that we are now in.